UAE Public Prosecutor: Planning and Execution of Terrorist Act Behind 'Flydubai' Flight Incident

The United Arab Emirates announced yesterday that planning and the initiation of a terrorist act were behind the incident involving Flydubai flight FZ1073, which made an emergency landing at Tabuk City Airport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr. Hamad Saif Al-Shamsi, the UAE’s Federal Public Prosecutor, stated that investigations into the Flydubai flight FZ1073 incident revealed that the aircraft’s co-pilot had begun carrying out a terrorist operation. He explained that the co-pilot executed his plan during the flight, attacking the captain inside the cockpit with a crash axe and attempting to take control of the aircraft’s controls. According to the official news agency WAM, the Public Prosecutor confirmed that investigations are still ongoing to uncover all circumstances, motives, and related links connected to the incident, alongside completing technical examinations and inspecting physical and digital evidence. Final results will be announced as soon as all necessary procedures are completed. A senior source at the Saudi Ministry of Interior clarified that competent authorities in the Kingdom had initiated the necessary measures to handle the emergency declared for Flydubai flight FZ1073, granting it permission to make an emergency landing at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk on the previous Wednesday. The aircraft landed safely at 9:45 a.m., carrying 174 passengers and a crew of eight, all of whom received the necessary care.